After so many requests, I am finally sharing my recipe for the best, thick Teriyaki Sauce! It’s one of the easiest condiments you can make in your own kitchen. You can use it in cooking or pour over a finished dish to add Asian flavor. It only requires a handful of ingredients that most likely are already in your pantry. This Homemade Teriyaki Sauce recipe is the best and easiest and will save you time in the kitchen! Forget the store-bought stuff and make a jar or your own homemade teriyaki sauce!

Ingredients:

low-sodium soy sauce

sesame oil

brown sugar

garlic

ground ginger

cornstarch

water

apple cider vinegar

How to make it?

Whisk all ingredients in a saucepan.

Simmer over medium low heat for about 3 minutes.

Make a quick cornstarch slurry with water and add to sauce. Cook just until it thickens. Done!

You can use the sauce right away by adding it to cooked chicken in skillet or pour over salmon, shrimp or chicken tenders and bake.

Best tips

Cornstarch: it is my go-to thickener for sauces as it will make a smooth and clump-free sauce every time. I almost completely stopped using flour in my sauces and just keep it for baking. Cornstarch will also make this sauce gluten-free, for those with gluten allergy. You can use flour in place of cornstarch in this recipe, just keep in mind that it will not be as clear in appearance.

Soy sauce: I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce to control the flavor.

sesame oil: if you don’t have it on hand, skip it but I highly recommend this ingredient for the recipe since it will give it that characteristic Asian flavor. You can use olive oil as a substitute.

sesame seeds: not necessary but we enjoy them.

Can I use this sauce as a marinade?

Yes! Simply place cubed raw chicken or salmon fillet into a ziploc bag, add sauce, seal tightly and freeze OR place in fridge for 30 minutes to overnight. When you are ready, thaw out and bake or cook in skillet. So easy and saves a time! Just remember to use all of the marinade and cook it with the meat.

Storing

If you keep the sauce in a jar with lid and store in the fridge, it will last for up to 2 weeks.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Have not made the sauce yet., but have a question. Can I use potato starch ? I bought some at a German store, used it for my Dumplings but am not sure about using it at as a sauce thickener. Stay well, Eva

Low Sodium tip: instead of a cup of soy sauce, use 1/4 c soy (I used low sodium Tamari), 1/4 c apple cider vinegar, and the rest water. Acidic levels are nearly the same, thanks to the ACV, taste is not compromised (soy is very potent), and Voilà! Much lower sodium content, same taste!

I also threw in some red pepper flakes to make it a spicy/sweet combo! Thanks for sharing this delicious and simple recipe!

Really good recipe, thanks for making it publicly available. (It shows up #1 on Gooogle.). You might want to invest in a used copy of Harold McGee’s “On Food and Cooking”(2004 edition) – this is the Bible that most serious chefs use: while not containing a single recipe, it talks about food ingredients, food science and how different things are made (including chocolate and soy sauce). This is a book that you can open anywhere and read for pleasure. (It’s highly likely that your public library may have a copy.) Japanese-style soy sauce uses equal parts of soy beans and wheat as the raw materials. (If it uses only soybeans, it’s called Tamari – this is the gluten-free stuff.) The wheat serves a useful purpose – its starches are broken down by fermentation into sugars and trace amounts of alcohol, and the sugars combine with the proteins from soybeans to form savory brown compounds (similar to what you get when you brown meat). As a result, soy sauce made with wheat has a more complex and richer flavor than that made with soybeans alone (provided you’re not gluten-sensitive).

Hi Ed! I used the seeds to have a point for my camera to focus. It’s hard to do that on a dark liquid surface. Sorry if it was confusing. Sesame seeds are often used as a garnish and you can sprinkle them over the finished dish. I hope you will give this teriyaki sauce a try!

OK !! I have seen so many recipes for this sauce but it’s the only one I see that uses Sesame Seed Oil and instead of Mirin, uses apple cider vinegar and no honey. Try omitting the oil,use Mirin,and a bit of honey and let me know how you like it. I’m still looking for that Genuine recipe.

The recipe looks awesome, but- BE WARNED: This sauce will NOT be gluten free just because you use corn starch instead of flour. If you are using genuine brewed soy sauce, the making of that sauce uses wheat in the fermentation process. You MUST use gluten free soy sauce along with the corn starch to make the recipe gluten free.